Disclaimer
I was sent a free copy of the Urban Shadows 2E core book to review for my blog. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I won’t let it sway my opinions. This will be my honest review. I will also be using my amazon affiliate links when possible. Always support your LGS, but using my link helps me out!
What is Urban Shadows?
Urban Shadows is an award winning TTRPG that just received its second edition.
In large metropolitan cities, a supernatural society operates in the shadows. Unbeknownst to the average citizen, there is an ever presence conflict between four warring factions as they try to gain dominion over the city. The balance of power is in a state of constant flux, and the political landscape of the city is forever shifting. Fate, chance, or whatever you want to call it has brought you into the this world, and it is up to you to find your place within it. Make deals, earn and pay off your social debts, and climb your way up the ladder. Who will you become? How will you shape the cities narrative? How will you let the city shape you?
The Gist of It
This is a massive book, but the gist is this:
In Urban Shandows, players navigate the complex social network of the supernatural society of a major city. They must broker deals, climb the social ladder, and most importantly, operate in the shadows.
Whatever the city, there are four factions that fight over its dominion: Mortalis, Night, Power, and Wild.
Mortalis are the humans that find themselves in the world, either by chance or by choice. Some hunt the monsters that roam the night. Others smuggle supernatural items to sell for a profit. Others play with the idea of giving up their humanity to join this world permanently.
Power is full of the people who can wield the magic of this world. It is full of the wizards, oracles, and immortals who seek to gain more power from this world.
Night is the faction of people who have been transformed into a supernatural creature of the night, and must wrestle with this new found identity. These are the vampires, werewolves, and ghosts of the city and the smaller sects that form within them.
Wild is the faction that lives on the fringes of society that wield powerful ancient magics that rival the other factions. These are the faeries, demons, and constructs that roam the city’s shadows.
The important thing is that these factions have an established hierarchy, and the players must find their place within it. The faction a player starts with, doesn’t have to be the one they end in. They don’t even have to be the same character, there is a mechanic that allows players to retire. Climbing is not easy, and it isn’t black and white. While players can fight their way through the city for territory, there are more diplomatic approaches that might prove more efficient. Trying to change an outcome with emotion or persuasion instead of fists is just as viable, if not more. The city is always moving and changing, and players need to adapt to keep up. Whether they can shake up the foundation of the city is up to a few actions and a couple dice roles. Within those four factions are 12 unique classes for players to choose from. Each class feels unique and gives players abilities to help them navigate their social mobility. There is a lot of flavor in this game, and while you can adjust your narrative to fit your vision, the book has a lot of valuable helpful examples to get a newer Master of Ceremony (game master) started.
What sets the game apart is the focus on urban fiction, which takes players to the streets of their favorite cities at any time in history. Want to start in the present and time skip to a time of calamity? Go for it! The landscape may be in constant flux, but the narrative belongs to the city.
The Book
Review
Urban Shadows is a very good resource for any new game master, even if you don’t plan on running the game itself. The amount of resource, examples, and detail that make this book the hefty beast that it is can easily be translated into other systems. The book spells out every mechanic and feature in a way that is easy to read and understand, and is filled some very cool art to break up the information.
The game is powered by the apocalypse system, and the system is easy to learn and teach. This is important, especially for newer players who just want to hop into the game and not worry about intricate nuances. The game has its complexity, but I feel like there was less time spent arguing about rules, and more time enjoying the world and story for what it is.
Character creation is easy with the class system, and every class feels balanced and unique. More testing is required of course, but it all felt fine for the bit that was done. I like that the game doesn’t have to revolve around combat (it can), and how creative solutions to problems can be. The death and retirement system is interesting. The on death abilities each class has makes death sting a little less, and I like that players can retire a character if they just want to try something new.
What is important to note about the system is that it is going to be a bit more roleplay heavy. Yes dice rolls will sway the narrative, but you are going to have to ask for favors, or gather clues, or broker deals in a way that is limited by your social standing. For people who are more interested in the political side of roleplay, this is a great choice with lots of room for good story telling.
If you enjoy physical media, the book is a fantastic addition to any collection. Its a good quality book with some great illustrations. As far as resource books go, you’ll have everything you need to run a good campaign. There are helpful examples, tables, and a couple cities. There is an appendix with a bunch of charts and tables for the GM that needs to create an meaningful encounter on the fly.
I’ve read a few different resource books and nothing comes close to how detailed this book is. For veteran game masters, it is a little over kill. But for those just starting out in the space, it doesn’t get any better. When I started my journey, I did hours of research. A lot of what I’ve learned is packaged neatly in this book, and while there is lot a GM will learn through practice, its a great place to start.
Urban Shadows is a little too RP heavy for my table, but we had fun running it. We enjoyed how easy everything was to pick up, and the flavor is sound. I ran my games in San Francisco because that is the city I know best, but the borrowed a couple of the examples in the books to fill its underworld. I really enjoyed the shift to Urban Fantasy. We play a lot of high fantasy with the occasional scifi story, and it was nice to explore a modern city with modern problems and a supernatural element. I’d absolutely come back to the system if prompted because there is a lot of room for good story telling, and some very epic moments.
Urban Shadows is a solid TTRPG. If you like werewolves and vampires and mitigating the intricacies of social advancement, I don’t think you can find anything better than Urban Shadows.
You can pick up Urban Shadows and related products on the official Magpie store, and on DriveThru RPG if you don’t care about physical media.
